HSK Chu/Zhong Ji 23rd Nov 2008

[dncdoor]

I do enjoy talking about the HSK!!

So, I have been in special preparation for this exam for the last 3 or 4 weeks, cramming in as much vocabulary as possible with a special focus on the Zong He Tian Kong Section (as I find it almost impossible). The Reading and Grammar parts of the test seem OK, at least so far when I have been practice testing. The listening is rather difficult as I have been neglecting the Television apart from the odd burst of 奋斗and 李小龙、小李龙.

How has everyone elses preparation been going? Have you opted to sit the practice test on Sunday afternoon? I think it is a silly time to have such a test as after you have finished the morning sitting you will be maxed out with examinations. I'd much prefer using it as my morning (or day before) final practice test to tweak my ears and steady my eyes for the real thing.

[dncdoor]

The lack of response would indicate that fellow HSKers are sticking to a 100% Chinese environment for the remaining 4 days.

[lilac521]

I'm taking the HSK this Sunday as well.. I'm not doing the practice as I will just be so glad to be done with the exam and have that many more hours back every week to focus on my normal Chinese classes... Zonghe is the hardest part for me too, there are always two words I can't remember the difference between or how to use (verb vs. noun, etc.). Plan to review what I've been studying over the next couple days and see how it goes! Good luck

[roddy]

Not taking the exam, but good luck and let us know how you get on . . .

[my3rdlang]

I will also be sitting for the 23/11 HSK. Hope for at least a 6 (got a 5 in June).

The zonghe mock tests are harder than the real test. Prior to taking the HSK in June, I usually scored 3 or 4 on the zonghe mock tests. I was pleasantly surprised when I scored 67 (6ji) in zonghe on the real test.

So don't be too stressed out

[dncdoor]

I hope you are right!

All the best tomorrow morning.

[kdavid]

Will this be the last sitting of the original test? Will the new test and scoring system start next year as planned?

[dncdoor]

On the whole today's HSK seemed rather do-able, however it is always better to remain cautiously optimistic.

The Listening section was a lot easier than any of the practice exercises I have carried out. I reckon that the speed was 25% slower than usual. Further, there were very few 地道的俗语，比如‘什么风把你吹来’or’出风头‘. It seemed a lot like how we language learners speak i.e. simple and clear sentences.

The Grammar section was ok apart from a few words that I didn't recognise.

The reading section was my weakest by far as I felt that the type of questions put forward required you to infer meaning/语气 from the paragraph. I have completed roughly 15 practice papers over the last few weeks and todays HSK reading section was by far and away the most difficult of any of these. There were very few 什么句子不符合文章’, i.e. it wasn't as simple as just finding the character/s! What did everyone else think? Maybe I spent too much time trying to understand the meaning and the overall plot which in turn detracted from my reading skills.

The Zonghe section was wee buns (easy) which included the writing of characters such as 何，康，比，礼。。等等.

A 7 in this test would be ideal, with a 6 being a little disappointing as I achieved this level a few months back.

[anonymoose]

Is the HSK test paper the same everywhere? I took the test today also, but I don't recall any of those characters in the zonghe section. From what I remember, characters included 必、顺、支、保、解、愉、现

I'll be disappointed if I don't get an 8. I was initially going to take the advanced, but unfortunately they had run out of places when I went to sign up.

[dncdoor]

That's an interesting question.....

比喻

保持

如何（如此）

健康

do these combinations ring a bell?

[roddy]

I think there are two different exam papers each time.

[anonymoose]

比喻

保持

如何（如此）

健康

do these combinations ring a bell?

No.

I think Roddy must have the answer.

[lilac521]

Must be two different exams... (they were really particular about passing out the books in order - guess that's why!)

I had 顺利，支持，愉快，规定，必须，and now I can't remember the others.. hah!

[dncdoor]

did question 155 onwards centre around a letter to a teacher expressing gratitute for all their help? If not then there must be two different papers. How did you find out about that Roddy? Someone on the inside?

[roddy]

Not at all - Korean girl told me when we were discussing the exam we'd just taken. She may well have had someone on the inside though. I have a vague recollection that either the question papers or the answer sheets, or both, were different colours depending on which version you had.

[my3rdlang]

Seems like all the students in my uni got the same version. My version had:

Tingli:

di 3 bufen:

-A male and female on a plane?

-A student who loves to travel, and pays 1/2 price to ride travel buses as she is a student

-Someone who's leader is already dead, and wants to win a competition because his leader never did. BTW: If anyone recalls that part, what is that person's profession? I chose 运动员 but I think it's wrong

Yuedu:

1. The 4 cats and the bird droppings.

2. People who 感冒一年一次 are 6x less likely to get cancer. That reading then gives other examples on how failure leads to success and makes one stronger.

3. A person who got a request from a friend to help her child who works at a bank.

4. Some beautiful desert in Xinjiang. I don't really understand the middle part. Towards the end it points out whether that place could be considered a desert is controversial.

5. A fish doctor. I felt that reading was very strange!

6. A man who got a call from his wife while talking to his boss and ready to jiaban. He replied rudely to his wife and then regretted it. I felt this reading was the easiest.

Zonghe:

负责，服务，社会，顺利，支持，图书馆，国外，接受，无论如何。I regretted for miswriting 论- I wrote 伦 instead。

[dncdoor]

Completely different version.

How did you find this exam overall?

[anonymoose]

Someone who's leader is already dead, and wants to win a competition because his leader never did. BTW: If anyone recalls that part, what is that person's profession? I chose 运动员 but I think it's wrong

The answer was chef (厨师)

1. The 4 cats and the bird droppings.

It wasn't cats, it was owls (猫头鹰)

4. Some beautiful desert in Xinjiang. I don't really understand the middle part. Towards the end it points out whether that place could be considered a desert is controversial.

It was about 雅丹地貌. I'm not sure what this is in English, but you can look for pictures on the web and you'll see. And it was whether 雅丹地貌 could be considered to be desert landforms or not. The middle part was about how 雅丹地貌 are formed, which was erosion by wind and sand.

5. A fish doctor. I felt that reading was very strange!

Yes, it was rather odd. I think it had a bit of a 讽刺 tone to it.

[dncdoor]

In response to Kdavid's earler question: no the current HSK is not being abolished, albeit for the present time. I had a chat with the lady in the HSK centre this afternoon and she introduced me to the 改进考试 which will be taking place next month (around the middle of December). You have the option of choosing the 高级 or 初中 and if my listening served me well I believe that you can choose 1,2,3 or all four sections of the examination. There is a 口语 exam available.

[my3rdlang]

I felt better after taking this HSK than the one I took in June. Most of my friends also felt that yesterday's was easier too... so after normalising, I am afraid scores will not be adjusted upwards.

The tingli was easier this time

The yufa shijian tai jin so I am afraid I made mistakes due to carelessness

Unlike in June, I was able to finish reading everything on the yuedu this time. I didn't quite understand 2 out of 6 of the passages (the 4th and 5th one）

The zonghe was easier this time

dncdoor, will the new 中级 HSK be offered next month?